VA congressional delegation divided over politicizing of massive military cuts

Gov. McDonnell cancels Republican-only press conference over issue

The effects of deep federal budget cuts to the military scheduled to go into effect in January have bitterly divided Virginia's Congressional delegation, leading Gov. Bob McDonnell to cancel a press conference with fellow Republicans in Washington, D.C. Wednesday.

McDonnell had scheduled a press conference with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Henrico, and other "Republican members of Virginia's Congressional delegation," following a pull out from a bipartisan delegation meeting with the governor by Democrats – including U.S. Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner and U.S. Reps. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, Jim Moran and Gerry Connolly – over what they saw as a politicalization of the issue, which is expected to hit Virginia hard.

A report issued Tuesday by the Aerospace Industries Association said the commonwealth could lose more than 207,000 jobs as a result of the sequestration deal reached by Congress and President Barack Obama last summer in a last-minute effort to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

As majority leader of the House Republicans – who helped push the debt limit deal to the brink of a federal government shutdown – Cantor played a significant role in structuring the deal that could force $500 billion in cuts to military spending over a 10-year period in order to reign in the nation's budget deficit and debt.

The Democrats issued a joint statement Wednesday announcing their boycott of the delegation's meeting with McDonnell said the scheduling of a press conference with just GOP members of the delegation was not the "Virginia Way" on these types of issues.

"For decades, the Virginia congressional delegation has had a tradition of productive, bipartisan meetings with a long line of recent governors, Republican and Democrat," the Democrats wrote in the statement announcing their boycott of the meeting. "At these meetings and thereafter, partisan politics always took a back seat to our combined efforts to move Virginia forward."

McDonnell spokesman Jeff Caldwell said the governor is committed to "holding a bipartisan joint delegation" on the issue, and said it is "unfortunate" that the Democrats chose to "jeopardize that meeting to make a political point."

"However, policy must always come first," Caldwell said. "That is why, to assuage Democratic concerns, we have agreed to cancel our unrelated press conference scheduled for after today's meeting. We would hope that the Democratic delegation will now attend today's meeting."

Virginia's Congressional delegation is generally known for speaking with a unified voice on military issues.

In 2010, Warner and U.S. Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, together opposed then U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates plan to close the U.S. Joint Forces Command that had a heavy presence in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Webb along with the entire Hampton Roads delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives have fought loudly and vigilantly to oppose efforts to move one of the Norfolk-based nuclear-powered aircraft carriers to Mayport Naval Station in Florida.